Caracterización biológica del marcador CD66c y su importancia clínica en la leucemia linfoide aguda / Biological characterization of the CD66c marker and its clinical importance in acute lymphoid leukemia

Las leucemias son un grupo heterogéneo de hemopatías con diversa etiología, patogenia, historia natural y pronóstico en las que se desencadena una proliferación clonal. La leucemia linfoblástica aguda (LLA) es el tipo de cáncer más común en los niños, se caracteriza por la infiltración de células neoplásicas del sistema hematopoyético a la médula ósea, sangre y otros tejidos. Fue considerada fatal hasta hace 30 años, hoy, la tasa de sobrevida a los 5 años supera el 70 por ciento, lo que implica que la mayoría de los pacientes puede curarse; sin embargo, la situación es diferente para la población infantil de los países en desarrollo. Se estima que la supervivencia al cáncer es entre 10 y 20 por ciento menor que para los infantes en países desarrollados. Uno de los marcadores de inmunofenotipo que ha cobrado mayor relevancia en los últimos años en el diagnóstico de LLA-B y seguimiento de la enfermedad mínima residual es el CD66c, este es una glicoproteína miembro de la familia del antígeno carcinoembrionario con función de adhesión celular y ampliamente utilizado como marcador tumoral que fue descubierto por SvenBerg a finales de los años 1970. Este antígeno se expresa en la superficie de los granulocitos y está implicado en varias funcionesbiológicas, que incluyen la adhesión celular, la migración, la transducción de señales y la regulación de la expresión génica. Este antígeno se presenta frecuentemente en varios tipos de cáncer y su sobrexpresión se asocia a menudo con pobre respuesta al tratamiento y disminución de la supervivencia de los pacientes. Diversos estudios evidencian que este marcador se relaciona con la presencia de diversas alteraciones cromosómicas como BCR-ABL, CRLF2, hiperdiploidía, que permiten orientar al pronóstico de la enfermedad(AU)

Leukemias are a heterogeneous group of blood diseases with a diverse etiology, pathogenesis, natural history and prognosis in which a clonal proliferation may be triggered. Acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) is one of the most common types of cancer in children, it is characterized by the infiltration of neoplastic cells from the haematopoietic system to the bone marrow, blood and other tissues. Until 30 years ago, it was considered fatal; nowadays, the five-year survival rate exceeds 70 percent, which implies that most patients may heal. Nevertheless, in developing countries the situation might be different for pediatric population; it is estimated that cancer survival rate ranges between 10 and 20 percent less than those children living in developed countries. One of the immunophenotype markers that has been relevant in the last few years in the diagnosis of B-ALL and the follow-up of the minimal residual disease is CD66c. This is a member of the glycoprotein family from the carcinoembryonic antigen with a cellular adhesion function that has been widely used as a tumor marker as discovered by Sven Berg in the late 1970's. This antigen has been identified as a superficial protein expressed on the granulocytes and it is also involved in several biological functions, including cellular adhesion, migration, signal transduction and regulation of gene expression. This antigen is frequently presented in several types of cancer and its overexpression is often associated with a poor response to treatment and a decrease of survival rates for patients. Several studies have evidenced that this marker is relatedwith the presence of several chromosomal abnormalities, such as: BCR-ABL, CRLF2, and hyperdiploidy, which may help in the disease prognosis(AU)

Establishment of Reference Intervals of Tumor Markers in Korean Adults / 대한진단검사의학회지

BACKGROUND: The sensitivity and specificity of tumor markers for detecting cancer could be significantly changed by the reference intervals of tumor markers. We established reference intervals of tumor markers in Korean adults and evaluated its importance, since the reference intervals recommended by the manufacturers were determined in the Caucasian population and have sometimes been adopted without verification. METHODS: We established the reference intervals of alpha fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA)125, carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9, total prostate specific antigen (TPSA), cytokeratin fragment (Cyfra)21-1, and neuron specific enolase (NSE) according to the CLSI guideline in a maximum number of 1,364 healthy adults aged 20-60 yrs who visited a health promotion center from January to February 2007. RESULTS: Reference intervals of all tumor markers except for AFP were not in agreement with those recommended by the manufacturers. Reference intervals of CEA, TPSA, CA19-9, CA125, and Cyfra21-1 were age dependent. The mean reference values of NSE, CA125, and CEA were statistically different according to gender (11.72 vs 10.78 ng/mL), menopause status (18.89 vs 12.62 U/mL), and smoking status (2.60 vs 2.12 vs 1.80 ng/mL for smokers, past smokers, and non-smokers, respectively),respectively. CONCLUSIONS: With the verification and establishment of reference intervals of tumor markers in a Korean local population, we found the reference intervals significantly different by either age, gender, smoking or menopause status.

Marcadores moleculares do câncer de estômago / Molecular markers of the gastric cancer

O câncer gástrico apresenta altas taxas de mortalidade, devido ao diagnóstico tardio da doença. Neste contexto, a descoberta e utilização de marcadores moleculares, com sinais de alterações gênicas ou cromossônicas, podem tornar mais fácil o controle do câncer gástrico. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é revisar os marcadores moleculares, já descobertos, em associação ao câncer gástrico, visando a informar seus tipos e como podem ser utilizados